STILLWATER, Okla. – The UMKC women’s soccer team wrapped up their first regular season road trip with a 4-1 loss to Oklahoma State. The Roos faced a tough challenge in the Cowgirls who were returning several starters from a team who reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago.

Oklahoma State wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as a header from Julia Lenhardt deflected off the crossbar and found its way into the net at 12:55. Moments later OSU would strike again with a Marlo Zoller shot from just outside the right corner of the box snuck inside the far post for a two goal lead.

UMKC was for the most part unable to put together their offense in the first half. Their best look came off a well-executed corner kick from Lexie Howard(Kearney, Mo.) that set up a shot from Reighan Childers (Grain Valley, Mo.). Childers’ shot was blocked by an OSU defender but was kept alive by the Roos attacking front. The possession ended with a shot from Carly Janike (Lincoln, Neb.) that sailed just wide of the net.

Oklahoma State added two goals from within ten feet at 27:43 and 29:54 to extend their lead 4-0. The Cowgirls showed they were quite content to play more conservative the rest of the way, making it very tough for the Roos to set up sustained attacks.

“We were all very disappointed in the way we played in the first half and are certainly capable of giving a better performance”, noted head coach Chris Cissell. “We had a good halftime talk and challenged the group to come out and step up our play.”

The Roos responded and showed they were not content to go down without a fight. A beautiful free kick from Childers, making her season debut following an injury, set up a crafty running header from Abby Small(Kansas City, Mo.) that found the net at the 50:09 mark. UMKC was unable to break through the OSU defense the rest of the way despite a strong effort.

“Obviously we didn’t want to be coming home 0-2”, commented Cissell. “The one positive we can take away is that we won the second half against a very good Oklahoma State on the road and we will use that as we prepare for our next match.”

UMKC will square off against Illinois-Chicago on Friday, Aug. 25 in their regular season home opener at Durwood Stadium. The contest is set for 7 p.m. CT with live stats available through StatBroadcast.